Balloon Arch Birthday Card

I know it’s been a long while since I’ve posted.  I guess I’ve just lost the motivation for posting on social media. I’m still creating, just not sharing online. Today I thought I’d take some time and create a post, but I’m not going to promise to be more regular in my posting. I know that most people don’t bother looking at blogs anymore, and the social media algorithms are such that I rarely even get to see card posts from the crafters I follow. It’s time consuming to get everything uploaded and shared, and then hardly anyone sees the post … 

Anyhow, this was a fun card to make - it was for our DIL’s birthday. I had a play with Karen Burniston’s Arch Pop-Up die set, as well as older papers etc from my stash. While the die set comes with balloon dies - I chose to use an older SU punch and also added some small cut aparts to decorate the arch. The card is 5x7” and was hand delivered.

One more look at the card front - I added some Nuvo Drops for some sparkle and the patterned paper has pearl foiled bits as well.

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - Confetti, DCWV (old, from my stash)

5x7” Card and envelope

Pops of Color, Scrapbook.com

Arch Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Balloon punch - Stampin’ Up

Stitched Scallop Rectangle Dies - Unknown

Labels Crosshatch, Karen Burniston

Inside Out Birthday - Catherine Pooler

Gold adhesive gems - Spellbinders

White and Iridescent adhesive gems - Honey Bee

Pair of Slimline Birthday Cards

I had been flipping through an older paper pad and pulled out a sheet that had lots of borders on it. They are perfect for adding to a Slimline card! The paper was cut to 8.25 x 3.25” so I would have an even border all around from the coloured card base, and I wrapped each panel with narrow gold tape for some birthday shimmer & shine. 

The Happy Birthday was stamped directly on the patterned paper panel and both the balloons and the cupcakes got brushed with Wink of Stella for a little more sparkle. The panels were popped up onto the card bases with thin foam tape.

I really do like the colours in this paper pad and will be getting it out again soon.

Here is a peek at the inside - both are done the same and went into my Nursing Home donation bin. Love letting the patterned paper do most of the work for me.

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - Confetti, DCWV

Narrow gold tape - Amazon .ca

Happy Birthday Many Ways - Catherine Pooler

Essential Birthday Sentiments - LDRS

Wink of Stella

Six Birthday Cards with Anchors & Shells

It’s Masculine Card Monday here on my blog and today I’m sharing six nautical themed cards made with some older paper in my stash. The sheets are nice and heavy weight and many have gold foil accents on them!  I used the February 2020 Sheetload of Cards for the cutting guide and basic layout but didn’t add any accents as I think the paper takes centre stage.

Here is a peek at the inside, with all of the cards being the same.

Supplies used:

February 2020 Sheetload of Cards, Call Me Crafty Al (on YouTube)

Patterned paper - Hey Sailor, DCWV (old, from my stash)

Happy Birthday Many Ways - Catherine Pooler

Inside sentiment - Better With Age, Penny Black

Red Balloon Birthday Card Trio

Using what I had left of a 12x12” birthday themed patterned paper sheet, I made these three cards. They are based on the February 2020 Sheetload of Cards, but I tilted the center panel rather than centering it.

The sentiment was stamped right on the 2nd patterned paper, and I added a large die cut balloon with foam tape. The white lines were done with a white paint pen and the movement lines and balloon strings were done with a fine point black marker. Finally, I added puffy balloon stickers and the card fronts were finished.

Here is a peek at the inside … all three were done the same.

Supplies used:

Based on Feb 2020 Sheetload of Cards, Call Me Crafty Al (on YouTube)

Happy Birthday patterned paper - Party Fun, Echo Park

Yellow stars patterned paper - Make A Wish, Bella Blvd

Balloon dies - Lawn FAwn

Happy Birthday - Little Something Sentiments (I think), Catherine Pooler

White paint pen

Puffy Stickers - Birthday Wishes, Pebbles

Inside - Big Birthday Bolds, Divinity Designs

Three Nautical Themed Birthday Cards

I never seem to post things in the same order I make them … I had been working with an older paper pad to make some masculine cards for the nursing home and these three were actually the last ones I made. I will share the others another day.  The patterned paper is nice and heavy weight, many of them have gold foiled accents and they are semi glossy as well. 

I was just using up some of the leftover strips and scraps in the paper package and I think they turned out cute. The Happy Birthday was stamped onto white scrap strips and popped up with foam tape. The inside of all three were stamped with the same image and these three were ready to go.

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - Hey Sailor, DCWV (old, from my stash)

Happy Birthday Many Ways - Catherine Pooler

Inside sentiment - Essential BD Sentiments, LDRS

Pop-Up Slimline Father’s Day Card

In Canada, Father’s Day was back in June but I am very behind in posting so wanted to share this card and not hang onto the photos any longer. Since it’s Fun Fold Friday here on my blog, it seemed like a good time to share this card, which I made for my hubby. 

As you can see, it’s a Slimline card and I started with this printed Slimline card panel by Whimsy Stamps. I die cut the bears and popped them up with foam tape, then stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of white card stock with brown ink. I used a stitched circle die to cut it out, attached it to the card with foam tape then trimmed off any overhang.

Inside I used the Little Twist Panel die set by Karen Burniston for the pop up inside as well as her Outdoor Edges for the details. The beaded border was an old sticker I found in my stash and I thought the colours were perfect.

Supplies Used:

Patterned paper - Enchanted Forest, Whimsy Stamps - Slimline …

Little Twist Panel Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Long Nature Edges - Karen Burniston

Outdoor Scene - Karen Burniston

Double Stitched Circles - Divinity Designs

Words - Something for Everyone, Catherine pooler

Sticker - the Paper Studio (Old, from my stash)

Brother Label Maker

Twine

Bear Family Fancy Dies - Hero Arts

Birthday Card Trio

Hello friends - we had another busy week and I didn’t get any of my cards posted. I think things will slow down after this weekend though, once we get through Thanksgiving (we are hosting) and get our RV winterized and closed up for the season. We were hoping to get another couple of weekends in but the overnight temps are plummeting so that’s it until Spring. Sigh. I am SO not looking forward to the cold.

Today’s cards feature what could be my new favourite card layout. I tried it out when I had some leftover strips of patterned paper with various width’s. Eventually I settled on 2.5” width with a 2.75” mat. The length is as long as your card (or as long as you wish) - for these A2 sized cards they are 5.5” long. Now I know a lot of you will be feeling like a 2” strip would be a more efficient use of the paper, but that is not my goal. I have a ton of patterned paper in my stash and I know I will come up with a use for the leftover pieces after cutting them from a sheet of 12x12” paper. 

I chose a stamped and matted circle for these cards, but really - most shapes will work and you can play around with placement and size. I changed the location of these circles depending on what parts of the patterned paper I didn’t want to cover up.

Below is a peek at the inside, with a narrow strip of rainbow paper cut into a fishtail banner to bring in some colour.

 

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - Party Fun, Echo Park

Double Stitched Circles - Divinity Designs

Front sentiment - Little Something Sentiments- Catherine Pooler

Inside sentiment - Big Birthday Bolds, Divinity Designs

Birthday Balloon Card Duo

These cards were made on a whim, and I ended up liking how they turned out! I started with a pink/gold foiled note card that was printed front and back. Cutting it into two panels I pulled out this fun balloon background die (Taylored Expressions) and die cut each panel. I decided to just keep these ones nice and simple, but I look forward to playing with this die again and using multiple colours for the different balloons.

There are included balloon dies as well, so I cut a couple from the scraps and popped them up with foam tape. The balloon pieces were attached to white card bases and I stamped a sentiment in the open area. Finally, I added some Stickles glitter glue to the popped up balloon on each card front.

Here is a peek at the inside, with a second die cut balloon and a penned balloon string weaving through the stamped sentiment.

Supplies used:

Up Up & Away cutting plate, Taylored Expressions

Patterned paper - old note card from my stash

Best Birthday Yet - Catherine Pooler

Inside - Little Something Sentiments, Catherine Pooler

Stickles glitter glue

Rainbow Stripe Birthday Card Group

These cards just make me happy! With everything going on in the world, I just need happy colours and I actually kept these out on my stamping desk for about a week before I took the photos - just so I could enjoy them for awhile.

The journal cards were cut from a 12x12” sheeet in my stash and I added some sparkle with Stickles glitter glue. After the cards were assembled onto the striped patterned paper and card bases, I added black Nuvo drops to some of them. I like how the black makes the other colours pop.

I think the nursing home residents will enjoy these happy cards as well.

Finally, here is a peek at the inside. All the cards have the same sentiment inside.

Supplies used:

Journal cards - Happy Hooray, Pebbles

Striped patterned paper - Cream & Sugar, Doodlebug

Stickles glitter glue

Pops of Color, Black - Scrapbook .com

Inside - Best Birthday Yet, Catherine Pooler

Paper Pumpkin Sympathy Cards

I had been working with an older Paper Pumpkin kit (March ’24) and made these four sympathy cards for my stash. The card bases are printed front and back, so I usually cut each one into two panels to add to white card bases. Almost everything for the card fronts came in the kit, but I did add small die cut iridescent butterflies that were popped up with foam tape. It’s hard to see in the photo but the purple strip is actually vellum and the sentiment piece has a gold foiled line across the top.

I included four of the printed envelopes because they add so much to a special card like a these. After stamping the sentiment, I decided to also stamp a butterfly to tie in with the butterflies on the card fronts. 

Supplies used:

March 2024 Paper Pumpkin, Memorable Meadows - Stampin' Up

Inside Out Sympathy - Catherine Pooler

Little Etched Butterflies - Paper Rose

Rainbow Holographic card stock - Michaels

Butterfly stamp - old, Papercrafter Magazine

Mermaid Tail Birthday Card

I bought several boxes of printed note cards from Hobby Lobby several years ago when we were visiting Arizona. One of them is mermaid themed, so I pulled one out and cut it down to make this birthday card. While both the front and back of the note cards are printed, the foiled mermaid tails are only on the front side so I layered it with a different not card back panel for some contrast.

The sentiment was pulled from my plastic envelope - I make a whole bunch of them at a time, so I can just add one as needed. When the envelope looks like it’s getting low, I will spend an evening creating just sentiment strips!

Since the outside of the card was kind of fancy, I kept the inside simple with a large Happy Birthday. This card will be donated to my Mom’s old nursing home.

Supplies used:

Note card - Paper Studio

Sentiment - Simple Strips Birthday? stamp and die by TE

Platinum Embossing powder

Happy Birthday - Little Something Sentiments, Catherine Pooler 

Black & Tan Birthday Card

Today I’m sharing a quick and easy birthday card made using some leftover journal cards from a Project Life kit. This is a larger than A2 card, I started with a 5x6.5” card base (and envelope) from Michaels. I’ve had them for years so am not sure if they are still available or not. 

The sentiment is likely from Taylored Expressions, I stamp and die cut a whole bunch and keep them in a plastic envelope. It makes adding a sentiment to my cards so much easier when I have a bunch already done and ready to use. When I was finished, I thought it needed a little somethin’ somethin’ so I added black Nuvo Drops.

Here is a peek at the inside …

Supplies used:

Journal cards - stash, Project Life

5 x 6.5” card & envelope - Michaels

Pops of Color (black) - Scrapbook .com

Birthday Blessings - probably Simple Strips Birthday stamp & die, Taylored Expressions

Inside - Today Is - Best Birthday Yet, Catherine Pooler

Celebrate You - Large Birthday, Technique Tuesday

Two Floral Birthday Cards

I have had these floral note cards for several years - they are printed on both the front and back, so I cut one in half to give me two floral panels. After trimming the panels to 4x 5.25”, I added them to white card bases. 

I had been going through my “in progress” bin and found these 3-d flower stickers that were already adhered to the die cut labels. I replaced the foam tape, since the foam squares that I had initially used were losing their adhesive, then added them to the card fronts with thin foam tape. The sentiments were stamped on a scrap strip of white card stock and I fishtailed the ends with scissors.

Here is a peek at the inside using a bold sentiment by Catherine Pooler.

Supplies used:

Floral note card - front and back

Labels & Stickers - many years old, found in my stash. K & Co

Sentiment - Be Happy, Twice The Wishes, MFT Stamps

Pops of Color, Snowflake - Scrapbook .com

Happy Birthday - Little Something Sentiments, Catherine Pooler

Four SW Themed Pop Up Cards

I pulled out an older paper pad and decided to use two of the sheets to make four 5x7” Birthday Cards. Two use the Katherine Label Pop Up and the remaining two use the Twist Flower Pop Up - both die sets by Karen Burniston.

I love that the patterned paper has gold foiled bits! I wanted to keep the fronts nice and simple, so die cut ovals then stamped them before popping them up with thin foam tape.

Here is what the inside looks like using the Flower Twist Pop Up, and I chose one of these to go to a friend earlier in the month.

… and these two use the Katherine Label Pop Up. Both of these die sets are favourites, and looking at the labels on the right side of my blog you can see I have used the Katherine Label Pop Up NINETY times, and the Twist Flower Pop Up TWENTY THREE times. That makes me happy!

There was some leftover patterned paper, so I used those on A2 cards and will share those another day.

Supplies Used:

Patterned paper - Desert Dream, Recollections (old from my stash)

Katherine Label Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Twist Flower Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Ovals Crosshatch - Karen Burniston

Happy Birthday Many Ways - Catherine Pooler

Cultivated Cacti - Newtons Nook

Stickles glitter glue

Inside Out Birthday - Catherine Pooler

5x7” card bases & envelopes - Ohuhu (Amazon .ca)

Birthday Card Duo

II continue to whittle away at what crafting supplies I have so today's cards use up some leftover patterned paper from my cards HERE.  For something different I stamped the sentiment on fishtail banners (dies by Karen Burniston) and popped them up with foam tape. 

I added some black Nuvo Drops as the card fronts needed a little something and then I was happy. Both cards will be donated to my Mom's old nursing home.

Here is a peek of the inside:

 

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - DooWop Diddly Wink. - the Paper Studio (old)

Little Something sentiments - Catherine Pooler

Black Nuvo Drops

Panda and Cake Pop Up Birthday Card

I was supposed to post this yesterday for Fun Fold Friday on my blog, but I have no idea where the time goes! This is the birthday card I made for our grandson who loves Pandas. I haven't used this panda face die in a long time so I pulled it out and die cut it into white card stock. The die cuts the face/ear openings rather than the head so I backed the white panel with black glitter paper to show through the openings. 

There is often an indent left from the die that actually forms the head so I LIGHTLY went over that with a soft pencil and blending it out with a fingertip. It gives just a hint of the head shape but I like the effect. There was a strip of the rainbow paper sitting on my stamping desk so I matted it with black glossy cardstock (another scrap) and added a white heat embossed sentiment. 

I have shown these sentiments in video's before - they are the Simple Strips from Taylored Expressions and I just stamp, emboss and die cut a whole bunch of them at a time and store them into a clear plastic envelope. Saves so much time when I go to make a card!

Inside I used Karen Burniston's Twist Circle Pop Up since this grandson loves a pop up card. I decorated it with some older stickers from my stash and added a stamped sentiment onto the white panel. That is also where we signed the card.

Supplies used:

Panda face die - Neat & Tangled

Black glitter paper - American Crafts (old, from my stash)

Black glossy card stock scrap

Rainbow strip - leftover scrap of striped patterned paper

Simple Strips Birthday and coordinating die - Taylored Expressions

White embossing powder

Pops of Color - Snowflake and black, Scrapbook .com

Twist Flower Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Stickers - old, stash

Cross Stitched circle dies - Tutti designs

Best Birthday Yet - Catherine Pooler